Brother to Brother
by xxtigergirlxx
Summary: What happened to Jake after Cassie left the hospital to get help? This is Marco's POV. WARNING: Dark... dur: book 50; the ultimate
1. Previously

**PREVIOUSLY ON ANIMORPHS...**

**Cassie**

Jake joined Rachel by the girl's bed and began to talk softly. Ax stood guard at the door, tail blade poised. Tobias perched on a shelf by the window. Marco quietly went gorilla.

Everything seemed fine. And then I go the uncomfortable feeling that we were being watched.

I checked. Every kid besides the red-haired girl was asleep.

Standard-issue blue covers rose and fell with the soft breathing of the sleepers.

Peaceful. Jake and Rachel were still talking to the girl. Ax, Marco, and Tobias seemed untroubled. But still…Maybe I was missing something.

I morphed to horned owl. Wonderful night vision.

Suddenly, every tiny detail in the room was fully visible. Gnats swarming around the dull glow of the street lamp reflected in the window.

Clouds of sparkling dust. A salamander, streaking along the baseboard. Nothing suspicious. Nobody hiding, watching.

A sharp intake of breath. Jake, morphing to tiger while the red-haired girl's hand rested on his head.

Rachel holding the girl's hand now. A dreamy look on her face.

And then it happened again. My gut screamed at me. Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

I demorphed. Remorphed to fly.

That's when I saw it. A tiny, tiny pinpoint of infrared light. A camera was surveying the room!

The room is being watched! I shouted.

Too late!

The door flew open. Ten Blue Band Hork-Bajir-Controllers stormed in. overwhelmed

Ax before he could react. Aimed Dracon beams at Tobias and Marco.

Chaos!

Kids sat up in bed. Some screamed. Some shouted questions. "What's happening?"

"Who's there? What's going on?"

"Nothing to worry about." A human voice. "Just some pranksters."

The Hork-Bajir stood aside. And in walked Tom.

Tom. Jake's brother. A human-Controller.

Tom walked up the aisle. Toward Jake, fully human again.

"Some mean kids have broken in to play a practical joke," Tom said, grinning. "But it's not funny and we're going to throw them out right now."

Tom grabbed Jake's arm. Jake hissed a command to Rachel. She stepped back, her face a mask of fury.

Jake didn't resist.

Neither did Marco. Tobias. Ax. They couldn't. Not with all those innocent kids in the room.

Tom opened his other hand, palm out. "Give it to me."

Jake didn't move.

Tom wrenched Jake's arm. Yanked him closer.

"Give it to me. Now."

Slowly, without taking his eyes off Tom, Jake reached into his pocket. Pulled out the blue morphing cube. Placed it in Tom's hand.

Tom closed his fingers around the cube. Grinned.

"Okay," he said. "Let's all leave quietly."

Two Hork-Bajir-Controllers stood like sentries. The other eight marched Jake and the others into the hall.

I'm following, Jake, I said. Knowing he could hear but not answer me.

Cassie? Marco. If it comes to it, get James.

When we were in the hallway, Tom closed the door behind us. Then he turned and struck Jake savagely across the face. "My host's own brother!"

Jake reeled and a Hork-Bajir caught him. Propped him up.

Tom struck him again. "Do you have any idea what you've done to me? All that time we were searching for _you_. Looking for Andalites. And it was you! Right there in my own house. Right down the hall. I could have killed you a million times! Visser One almost starved me to death for my stupidity."

Rachel's face was red with fury. Frustration. Ax's stalk eyes were blank. His tail held by a smirking Hork-Bajir.

Marco was still, a Dracon beam pointed at his skull. Tobias was gripped under a Hork-Bajir arm.

This was worse than it had ever been.

Still Jake said nothing. His face was unreadable.

"Take them down to the garage off the loading dock," Tom ordered the Hork-Bajir- Controllers. "If the girl tries to morph or escape, kill her. Make the gorilla and the bird demorph. Keep the Andalite under extra guard. He'll make a special host

body. And inform Visser One that we have the rebels. And the cube."

Tom turned back to Jake. "My host's parents," he said coldly, "were given as hosts to relatively low-ranking Controllers. This is so we can kill them without regret if we have to. So if any of you even thinks about making trouble…"


	2. Marco

**Marco**

I watched as a small fly raced down the hall and out an open window.

Cassie. Going for help.

"…well I think you get the idea." Tom was saying. I turned my attention back to the Controller in time to see Jake be savagely punched in the stomach. The Yeerk signaled for his guards to let Jake go.

Jake fell to his knees. Clutching his stomach.

The Hork-Bajir backed away slowly but kept their Dracon beams leveled at his hunched form. He looked so frail. So weak.

But he couldn't fight back. There were too many innocents in the other room. Too many casualties that could occur.

Tom drew his foot back only to have it swing forward and connect with Jake's side, sending him sprawling into the white plaster walls. I shut my eyes and listened as my best friend was brutally beaten in front of us.

"Leave him alone!" Tom spun on his heel, walked over, and took Rachel by her throat. Shoved her against the wall.

"What was that, cousin?" Tom replied mockingly. Rachel whimpered.

Too fast for the Hork-Bajir to react! A flash of movement! Jake launched himself, fully human, onto his brother's back. Grabbed the hand that held Rachel. Bent it all the way back.

Tom let out an enraged cry and bucked hard, sending Jake flying into the wall. The controller stalked over and grabbed a fist full of Jake's shirt. Brought him up towards him.

"You think that you can mock_ me_, Human?!" Tom snarled.

Now Tom isn't a big guy. He's only about 6' 4", that's 4 inces taller than Jake. But he's strong. I guess fighting tigers, and bears, and wolves ((oh my!)) does that to you. So when I say Tom threw Jake across the floor, I mean that Jake _flew_ probably five feet horizontally _across_ the room.

Our leader struggled to stand up and was harshly kicked in the stomach as he tried.

Twice.

Finally the Hork-Bajir took Jake in their hands again. By that time, Jake had blood streaming from the left corner of his mouth and a small gash in his forehead. Tom bent close to his brother and literally snarled in his face.

"That's what I thoug-"

WHAM!

Tom turned sharply in search of the noise. Waited. Nothing. Waited more. Then…

WHAM!!

The door gave way and there ((to the complete disbelief of Tom and his battalion of Hork-Bajir)) stood an elephant, a bull, wolf, lion, bobcat, crocodile, rhino, panther, and a male grizzly bear.

James', Craig's, and Erica's teams, led of course by a snarling grey wolf.

Cassie.

I turned my poor gorilla eyes to meet hers.

((It's about time.))


End file.
